The present invention relates to a leg support for a surgical table, to a kit of parts for a leg support for a surgical table, to a method of configuring a leg support for a surgical table, to a surgical table comprising a leg support, and to a kit of parts for a surgical table. The leg support preferably is detachably connected or connectable to a surgical table.
Surgical tables comprising a base for standing on a floor, a column mounted on the base, and a tabletop mounted on the column and providing a patient support surface are well known. In one known surgical table, the tabletop is divided into multiple separate sections, the position of which relative to one another can be altered to vary the profile of the patient support surface, in order to best support a patient's body for surgery thereon or examination thereof. The separate sections comprise a head support, a torso support (comprised of an upper torso support and a lower torso support), and two leg supports. A lower end of the head support is mounted on an upper end of the upper torso support by means of a first pivot joint defining a transverse axis about which the head support can be displaced relative to the upper torso support. A lower end of the upper torso support is mounted on an upper end of the lower torso support by means of a second pivot joint defining a transverse axis about which the upper torso support can be displaced relative to the lower torso support. The leg supports are disposed beside each other in a transverse direction of the table, and respective upper ends of the leg supports are mounted on a lower end of the lower torso support. The leg supports are disconnectable and removable from the lower torso support to enable substitution of the two divided leg supports with a single leg support that is wider in the transverse direction and that preferably extends across the full width of the table.
The upper and lower torso supports share a common mattress that extends along the length of both torso supports in the longitudinal direction, and the common mattress is provided with a pair of spaced parallel grooves extending transversely across the width of the common mattress above and either side of the location of the second pivot joint between the upper and lower torso supports. The grooves permit flexing of the common mattress when the upper and lower torso supports are relatively inclined to each other by pivoting about the second pivot joint. The head support and the two leg supports each have a respective separate mattress.
A first one of the detachable leg supports has a support that supports the mattress, a connector for connecting the leg support to the lower torso support of the table, and an abduction joint that permits rotation of the support relative to the connector about an abduction axis, which is substantially perpendicular to the surface of the mattress. The leg support further has a lock that is operable to lock the support in one of a number of positions relative to the connector. The other of the detachable leg supports is similarly constructed, substantially as a mirror image to the first leg support. When the respective connectors of the two leg supports are each connected to the lower torso support, the connectors are fixed in position relative to the lower torso support and, by means of the respective abduction joints of the leg supports, the respective supports of the leg supports are rotatable about the respective abduction axes relative to the connectors and the lower torso support, in order to move apart from each other lower ends of the leg supports. The supports can then be locked in position relative to the connectors by operation of the locks.
When a patient is lying on the table with their legs on the respective leg supports, their legs are lifted and then, by means of the above-described arrangement, the position of the supports of the leg supports, relative to the connectors of the leg supports, are altered and the patient's legs are placed back down on the leg supports in a new position. As a result, the patient's legs may be supported by the supports in a position at which they are parallel or, alternatively, in a position at which they are spread apart from one another, i.e. abducted from the median plane of the rest of the patient's body, to enable a doctor or surgeon to access areas between the patient's legs. The leg supports can also be inclined using a hinged gas strut arrangement. This allows the patient's legs to be raised or lowered depending on the surgical procedure to be performed. Lowering the legs allows the patient to be positioned in the prone position for proctology or laminectomy type procedures, in which the patient is face down on the table with their legs bent behind them.
Surgery on obese patients is increasing. Gaining access to an obese patient's abdomen, for example to fit a gastric band or to carry out a bypass procedure, is particularly difficult when the patient is obese. Although the above-described known surgical table permits a patient's legs to be supported at a position at which they are spread apart from one another to aid access to their abdomen, there is a specific need for a surgical table, and a leg support therefor, that enables improved access to areas between a patient's legs.
Surgical tables and individual components thereof need periodically to be serviced and to be cleaned so as to remove any contamination therefrom. There is a still further need for a surgical table, and a leg support therefor, which enables improved access to areas between a patient's legs and which also is mechanically simple to aid servicing and cleaning.
As discussed above, it is advantageous for a leg support of a surgical table to be detachable from the table to enable substitution of the leg support with a different form of support. Often leg supports are removed from a surgical table, carried, and fitted to a surgical table by a member of hospital staff. There is a further need for a lightweight leg support for a surgical table which, when connected to the rest of the surgical table, enables improved access to areas between a patient's legs. The present invention avoids the disadvantages of the prior art.